Howdy, folks! What cha' up to? (Why am I suddenly sound like a cowgirl? Lol!) Thank you so much for the faves and alerts as well as the wonderful reviews and…oh, I have two new reviewers…cool! X3 Anyways, I decided to update Chapter 9 as soon as possible since I wanted to finish this story so badly, but then I figure that this story is longer than I thought, it didn't reach its climax yet! XD Still a long way to go until this story reaches its end…(sighs) Right, stop babbling and on to the story shall we? But first,
Beta: Natoya
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Keys:
"Talks"
'Thoughts'
Chapter 9: Like
Few minutes later, in Malik's tent…
"Such a heavy storm." Malik commented before he heard the sound of thunder striking down the forest near his tent. The sounds of raindrops dripping onto the ground soon increased its volume.
"So, the storm has finally arrived." A deeper voice suddenly spoke behind him and Malik spun round to see Marik, his older 'twin', sitting on his bed with his arms crossed in front of his well-built chest.
'What is he up to now?' Thought the younger lavender-eyed stripling. He can't help but feeling curious about what Marik said a while ago.
"You know…unlike Japan or any other country which the storms occur randomly, storms occur every 3 months in this forest." Marik explained while his younger look-alike sat on a chair and listened intently to what he said.
"It can go on for as long as a whole day, 3 days, a week or even…a month, depending on the circumstances."
"What?"
Chills ran down Malik's spine as soon as he heard the words 'a month'.
'How are we supposed to get back to the city if the storm goes on for as long as a month? And we still haven't found Yugi.'
Suddenly, a thought swam through his mind and without hesitation, he abruptly asked,
"How did you know all this?"
It was Marik's turn to feel anxious so before Malik got suspicious, he answered straight away,
"Well, erm…my uncle once told me about this…and he's a geologist if you're wondering."
Actually, Marik's uncle was a businessman who was now studying in Australia.
Before Malik could ask any more questions, the gentle sound of music echoed in Malik's dark bedroom. The younger of the two looked at his lilac colored digital watch to realize that he received a call from his white-haired schoolmate.
"It's Ryou." Malik told his older friend before a big bright transparent screen popped out from the watch's small round mirror and soon, an image of the white-haired fellow began to emerge.
"Hey, Malik, Marik. I got a good news and bad news for you two. So which do you want to hear first?"
"The bad news." Malik replied as he felt nervousness slowly overtook both his body and mind.
"Okay, the bad news is…Marik, your tent has been destroyed by the huge strong winds caused from the heavy storm."
"What?" The pineapple-like haired adolescent exclaimed in disbelief but snapped out from his thoughts when he heard Ryou's tranquil voice.
"The good news is…you get to stay in Malik's tent until the storm subsides." Ryou spoke aloud with a smile on his face.
This time, it was Malik's turn to exclaim in disbelief. That isn't good news!
"What?" Was the only word he could utter as the screen disappeared and the watch was switched back to normal. He stared at his older 'twin' who kept smirking back at him with various evil thoughts in his mind. The younger lavender-eyed youth then gazed at the window beside his desk that showed nothing but tree's swaying movements that were caused by sturdy winds. The raindrops kept dripping down the ground. A minute later, he stared at the wall above him and shouted unexpectedly in despair,
"No way!"
Before the storm arrived, on the other side of the forest…
Two tri-colored haired teens walked round the woods with their alerted eyes looking for a way to escape this dangerous forest. However, about 20 minutes later, they both heard a strident thunder not far away from them followed by dark gloomy clouds hovering above them so in that instant, they knew what they should do now.
"We better find a place to take shelter on before the storm arrives." The taller of the two abruptly spoke.
"I agree." Yugi said with an understanding nod.
Just when few drops of rain starting to drip down the ground, Yami saw a huge hollow tree with a massive hole forming below it, like a strange house that was made up entirely of woods.
"Let's stay in that tree before it's too late." The older adolescent said while pointing the tree to his younger look-alike.
Even though the tree somehow looked like a creepy house you usually see in horror movies, Yugi had no choice but to accept Yami's suggestion.
"Okay." Yugi replied as the two teens ran towards the tree and soon, raindrops dripped down the ground followed by intense winds that made the trees sway in different speeds.
"Let's hope that the storm will end soon." Yami said while at the same time, wondering what his cousins were doing at the moment.
"Yeah." Yugi spoke with a distressing sigh before silence took place.
Nearly an hour later, the storm was getting a lot stronger than before and more thunders striking down the forest near their hiding place. Yami then gave Yugi a quick glance before inquiring,
"Are you afraid of the thunder?"
"No." Came a whisper from his smaller companion but something was wrong. Yugi was never this silent so Yami stared at his tri-colored haired 'twin' who sat on a tree-like chair with a miserable expression, his delicate hand unconsciously touching his stomach. That's when Yami realized that they didn't have lunch because they were busy searching for a way to escape this place.
"Yugi"
The said teen looked up.
"I'm going out so you stay here until I come back."
"What?" He couldn't believe his ears. Yami was going out in this heavy storm?
When he saw Yugi's traumatized expression, Yami instantly added,
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He said with a reassuring smile.
"Where are you going, Yami?"
"I'm going out to look for food. You must be hungry by now."
"You don't have to…"
"It's only for a while." Yami interrupted but Yugi continued to protest.
"You can't go out in such a heavy rain like this, you'll catch a cold!" The younger Newcastle student exclaimed with concern in his voice.
"No I won't. Trust me."
"But…"
"I'll be right back."
As soon as he spoke his last words, the older of the two quickly ran outside while ignoring Yugi's protest.
"No, wait. The storm is getting stronger now!"
Sadly, Yami did not reply and kept on running towards north.
"Don't go, Yami."
Too late because as soon as he spoke those words, Yami was already out of sight so all he could do was sitting on the tree-like chair while ogling at the direction where his friend had disappeared to a few seconds ago.
"Why do you have to put yourself at risk?" Yugi whispered with a deep dismayed sigh. "I just hope you'll be alright and come back here safely."
When Yami was far away from Yugi, he let his elemental power overtook his body as little by little, he could feel his hands getting hotter than before. Without a second thought, he drew a big round circle in the air and a few seconds later; an invisible fire shield was formed around him.
"I'm sorry Seto but I have to do this."
Yami soon felt his wet body getting dry as warm air surrounding him, making him feel energetic again.
"This should keep me warm for a while. Right, let's start finding some food here." The ruby-eyed youth said with a playful grin on his handsome face as he kept on running until he saw trees with various delicious fruits hanging above him.
The reason why Yami did not feel wet was because as soon as the raindrops touched the shield's surface, they quickly evaporated into water vapors. Pretty cool, huh?
Meanwhile, in Ryou's tent…
"Alright. I'm going out now. Sorry for bothering you." The taller brunet said while walking towards the door. The white-haired fellow followed him from behind.
"Oh, I don't mind at all so you don't need to apologize." Ryou rapidly answered while waving his hands repeatedly.
"Actually, I don't mind that you stay in here."
"It's alright. I can stay at Wheeler's tent since it's just a few steps away from here and you don't have any extra rooms right? So I don't want to be a bother."
"But…"
"It's okay. Really."
Ryou sighed before nodded whilst at the same time saying,
"Okay, if you say so."
Kaiba opened the door and was about to step outside when he heard Ryou's barely audible voice.
"Erm, Kaiba?"
The ocean-blue eyed adolescent spun round to face him.
"What is it?"
"Well, it's…nevermind." The white-haired teen then looked away as he silently thought to himself,
'Should I ask him? It's not such a big deal anyway. However, I can't help but feeling curious.'
Ryou snapped out from his thoughts when he heard the door shut and Kaiba's calm baritone voice.
"What's wrong? It looks like something's troubling you." The older brunet then thought for a moment before speaking aloud,
"Is it about my annoying cousin, Bakura?"
Ryou's surprised expression made Kaiba smirk in triumph.
"So it is."
"Well, yeah…" The white-haired albino answered hesitantly while secretly fidgeting his hands.
"What about him?"
"Erm, well…you see…Bakura has been acting strange lately." Ryou paused for a moment before continuing his speech.
"He keeps…staring at me whenever I go or whatever I do."
"When did that happen?"
That question made Ryou looked up immediately.
"Two days ago, since the day we went to search for Yugi and Yami…we went separate ways and when we were both searching in the West Wing, I can feel Bakura watching me like he thought I was his prey."
Kaiba then put his hand on his chin and pretended to think seriously.
"That long huh?" He said shortly, the smirk returning. Ryou was confused by the smirk while at the same time he shuddered, thinking.
"Did you remember about what I told you before, that Bakura is a greedy, evil, heartless and selfish little 'thief'?"
"Yeah, I remembered." The white-haired youth said, an anime sweatdrop falling from his head.
"Well, since he is a 'thief' himself, he of course behaves like one."
"What do you mean?" Ryou asked with a puzzled expression displayed on his face.
"When a thief likes something, he will do anything to get what he wants. First, he will look at his 'precious thing' for a long time. Then, he'll make his move to steal that 'precious thing' in a sneaky way and claim that 'precious thing' as his. The longer he stares at that 'precious thing', the more he wants to possess it."
Ryou blushed when he heard the word 'likes' but trembled in fright when he heard the words 'steal', 'claim' and 'possess'. So he was now Bakura's newest target?
The albino gulped before timidly questioning,
"Wh…What will he do to claim that 'precious thing' as his?"
"That…you have to figure it out yourself." Kaiba answered with another mysterious smirk.
"I guess I should get going."
The door was opened once again.
"Thank you."
Kaiba nodded before he ran towards Joey's tent as fast as he could. Ryou later closed the door and sighed heavily to himself.
'I guess I have to solve this problem on my own.'
Just then, Kaiba's words echoed in his mind like a recording tape.
'…When a thief likes something, he will do anything to get what he wants.'
'…The longer he stares at that 'precious thing', the more he wants to possess it.'
'No way, he doesn't feel that way towards me!' Ryou thought inwardly while at the same time, blushing madly and shivering fearfully.
'But what if he is?'
The white-haired adolescent then walked towards the kitchen and when he opened the kitchen door, a pair of chocolate-brown eyes gazing back at him with his hands reaching for something in the fridge – a juicy delicate roasted chicken with honey sour sauce around it that was yet to be cooked.
"What are you doing?" Ryou asked threateningly while his anxiousness quickly turned to fury.
"I'm hungry." Came a simple response from his older acquaintance. He looked like a hungry 7-year-old urchin who begged for his mother to cook something for him and Ryou couldn't help but smiled warmly at him as his previous thoughts vanished in a flash.
"Okay, I'll cook something for lunch."
Bakura moved aside and watched his younger friend preparing for lunch. While Ryou was cutting the carrots into slices, Bakura stood beside him while sending hot breaths near his face that caused Ryou to blush at the sudden closeness.
"Bakura, can you wait in the living room? You're bothering me…"
Ryou paused when he saw a "You-better-not-get-in-my-bad-side" glare from his taller look-alike before sighing heavily to himself and continued to do his work.
'How do I make him stop staring at me like that?' Ryou thought while turning on the fire on the cooker.
'I couldn't bring myself to tell him this…'
Ryou was so distracted in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was turning on the fire at the highest volume. He then felt something hot near his hands and out of the sudden; the fire from the cooker was getting bigger and eventually burnt the curtains that were near to the cooker.
"Oh no, what have I done?" The Newcastle student screamed with horror and fear mixed in his eyes.
"Bakura, get the…"
Ryou's speech was cut off shortly when he felt water splashed all over him and the cooker. The fire extinguished immediately, but the curtains were already half burnt and the smell of something burning instantly encircled the kitchen.
"Thanks." The younger of the two said in a dull tone while ogling at Bakura who was holding a big bucket of water…just how did he get that full bucket of water that quick Ryou wondered.
He soon wiped his wet face with a soft white towel found near the kitchen door while silently cursed himself for making such a silly mistake.
'Why am I reacting like this? This isn't the real me. I usually think rationally and won't let anything, even a small matter, interrupt my daily activities.'
Ryou watched his older 'twin' putting the bucket back to its rightful place while wiping the floor with a spare clean towel.
'I really should tell him even if he'll get mad at me for saying that to him.'
"Hey!"
Ryou brought out from his thoughts as soon as Bakura's stern voice reached his ears.
"Are you going to stand there and do nothing?"
"Oh, sorry." Ryou apologized at once as he felt his cheeks burning in shame. He quickly retrieved more towels for Bakura and that's when he saw his right hand's fingers getting redder than before.
"Must be caused by the fire." Ryou whispered while wondering why he didn't notice this earlier but startled when a cold hand grabbed his injured ones as Bakura dragged him to the living room and ordered him to stay.
"Where are you going?" The smaller of the two inquired curiously, but Bakura ignored him as he went towards the storeroom to get a small, rectangular white box – the first aid kit.
As soon as the spikier white-haired teen sat down the sofa, he swiftly opened the kit and grabbed a small bottle with labels and instructions around it.
"I can do it myself." Ryou said almost immediately, but Bakura once again ignored him while applying the yellow liquid on his injured fingers, which made the smaller of the two winces in pain.
Silence engulfed the duo, so Ryou could only watched his older companion treated his fingers with care. When Bakura had done his work, Ryou looked at his fingers that had plasters pasted around them before smiling and said,
"Thank you."
The taller stripling nodded slightly before putting the kit back into the storeroom. Ryou was about to enter the kitchen when a deeper voice spoke without warning,
"You're not going to cook, are you?"
Ryou spun round to face Bakura's serious expression. He then sighed and replied,
"Well, I'm the only one here who can cook so if I don't do it, then who else can?"
Bakura shook his head in disagreement as he stepped ahead of him and said,
"You can't possibly cook, not when your hands are injured." He then walked towards the cooker and slowly turned on the fire.
"I'll do it." The Air Elemental whispered but Ryou could hear him clear enough as his eyes expanded in a split second.
"You can cook? Seriously?"
"No." Came an honest answer from his older pal.
"That's why you have to teach me."
Ryou couldn't believe his ears. The guy who was usually treating him coldly was now asking for his help on cooking. A warm, genuine smile crept up his angelic face as he stood beside Bakura and said softly,
"Thank you."
"Whatever." Was the only word spoken by the taller teen.
'If I weren't this hungry, I wouldn't want to offer my help. I hate doing this job.'
Soon, they worked together on preparing their lunch. Bakura followed Ryou's instructions carefully but of course, having his first time cooking was really tough for him and so he did a lot of mistakes.
"No Bakura, you have to put some oil first before putting the garlic into the wok."
"Bakura, you put too much salt in it!"
"No no Bakura, you shouldn't cut the celery that way. Here, let me show you."
Even though Bakura had made so many mistakes and did a lot of silly moves, Ryou patiently taught him and they soon had fun cooking together. Ryou smiled as he watched Bakura tried his hardest in cooking tomato pasta.
'I guess I shouldn't worry about that now, I'll ask him later.' Was Ryou's last thought before he laughed at Bakura's clumsy action as he tried to flip the pancake with a spatula but it accidentally landed on the older teen's head.
To Be Continued…
Phew, Chapter 9 has finally reached its end! Did you enjoy reading this chapter so far? I hope you do because I tried my hardest to write this chapter and this time, I add some Tendershipping moments in it. I felt pity for both Bakura and Ryou for not getting the spotlight and so, I decided to add more of them here.
Sorry that Joey isn't in this chapter, he had to take a break for now but don't worry, he'll be in the next chapter definitely. (Smiles)
Faves and Alerts are welcomed! Haha…XD and stay tune for Chapter 10: Delicacy!
I hope I get more reviews this time! :3